In television broadcast, in addition to video information and audio information, additional information representing broadcast contents, broadcast channels, broadcast times, and the like related to programs can be multiplexed and transmitted. In addition to a method of acquiring additional information from a television broadcast, a method which has a function of being connected to the Internet to acquire additional information through the Internet is known. For this reason, some broadcasting receiver for a television broadcast has a function of performing on-screen display generally called an electronic program guide (EPG) by using these pieces of additional information. A user using a broadcasting receiver selects a desired broadcast channel and a desired broadcast time from the electronic program guide displayed on a screen or selects a desired program to make it possible to actually display the selected program on the screen of the broadcasting receiver or to reserve a program.
In a display mode of an electronic program guide, a two-dimensional program table which displays broadcast channels and broadcast times in two orthogonal axes in the horizontal direction and the vertical direction as in a television guide of a newspaper is frequently used. As another display mode, a different-channel program table which displays information of an on-air program in another broadcast channel different from that of a display screen, a list which displays categories of programs and a program searched by a keyword as a list, or the like is known.
In the two-dimensional program table, in terms of visibility or operability, a display range on one screen is generally 3 to 9 channels as a display of broadcast channels, and a display range of broadcast times is generally 3 to 6 hours. Therefore, a user operates keys on a remote control unit (remote controller) to move a display screen up, down, left, or right to display a program desired to be seen. In this manner, the user scrolls the display screen along an axial direction of broadcast channels on the electronic program guide to make it possible to browse information of programs which are currently being broadcasted at all the channels. The user scrolls the display screen along the axial direction of a broadcast time of the electronic program guide to make it possible to display all program information sent from a broadcast transmission side at the channels. When the display screen is scrolled in the axial direction of the broadcast time, for example, programs of the channels until 24:00 (12 midnight) 7 days later can be displayed.
In general, when a user request to display a two-dimensional program table, on an initial screen displayed on a receiver side at the beginning, at a broadcast time, information for several hours from the current time is displayed. At broadcast channels, several channels before and after the channel selected at the present or several channels in the back of the selected channel are frequently displayed in the order of channel numbers. After the initial screen is displayed, the user scrolls broadcast channels or broadcast times to search for a desired program, so that detailed program information related to the program such as the program name, start time, end time, and explanation of the detailed contents of the program are acquired.
In the conventional electronic program guide display device and the electronic program guide display method, when a time of a program desired to be seen by a user is separated from the current time, a scroll operation must be performed frequently or for a long period of time. It is very cumbersome to move the screen to a desired time, and the usability disadvantageously becomes poor.
In some conventional broadcasting receiver, a date or a day of the week is designated, a screen is temporarily moved to the designated date or the designated day of the week. Thereafter, a scroll operation by the hour is performed to cause the screen to reach a desired time. In this manner, some broadcasting receiver has a function of temporarily moving the screen to the designated date or the designated day of the week to shorten a period of time for a scroll operation. However, even though the function is used, although certain trouble may be saved, the above problem in which the receiver is complicated and has poor usability is not essentially solved.
A configuration of the conventional electronic program guide display device will be described below with reference to FIGS. 15 and 16. A concrete example of a two-dimensional program table which is formed and displayed by the conventional electronic program guide display device is shown.
FIG. 15 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the conventional electronic program guide display device. FIG. 16 is a diagram showing a concrete example of a two-dimensional program table formed and displayed by the electronic program guide display device.
As shown in FIG. 15, a conventional electronic program guide display device 1500 includes a receiving part 1501, a multiplexing/separating part 1502, a decode part 1503, a program information management part 1504, a remote control input analyzing part 1505, a channel converting part 1506, a display area calculating part 1507, a program guide formation part 1508, and a display part 1509. A remote controller 2200 is connected to the electronic program guide display device 1500 such that a signal can be transmitted to the electronic program guide display device 1500. A command of a user from the remote controller 2200 is input to the electronic program guide display device 1500. In the following description, it is assumed that a broadcast channel is simply called a channel and that a broadcast time is simply called a time.
On the remote controller 2200, in addition to a power supply key, 10 numeric keys (0 to 9) and direction indicating keys which move a designated region in the horizontal and vertical directions are arranged. On the remote controller 2200, blue, red, green, and yellow keys are arranged, so that unique functions in the device can be achieved by key operations, respectively.
The receiving part 1501 in the electronic program guide display device 1500 receives a multiplexed stream of a digital broadcast. The multiplexing/separating part 1502 separates the multiplexed stream input from the receiving part 1501 into not only arbitrary digital video information and digital audio information but also program information including channel information, time information, program content information, and the like as service information. The decode part 1503 decodes the digital video information and the digital audio information input from the multiplexing/separating part 1502. The program information management part 1504 extracts program information from the information separated by the multiplexing/separating part 1502 and accumulates and manages program information in all periods of time at all the channels.
The remote control input analyzing part 1505 analyzes the type of an input key by a key operation of a user on the remote controller 2200 to determine an output destination on the basis of the analysis result. When the analysis result of the remote control input analyzing part 1505 is a numeric key, the channel converting part 1506 receives a signal of the numeric key from the remote control input analyzing part 1505 to convert the input signal representing the numeric key into a signal representing a channel.
When the analysis result of the remote control input analyzing part 1505 is a direction designation key representing a moving direction of a designation region, the display area calculating part 1507 receives a signal representing the vertical and horizontal moving directions from the remote control input analyzing part 1505 and calculates a scroll direction of the display area for a two-dimensional program table according to the moving direction. When the analysis result of the remote control input analyzing part 1505 is the blue key or the red key, the display area calculating part 1507 which receives a date indication signal from the blue key or the red key calculates a date displayed on the two-dimensional program table.
Furthermore, the display area calculating part 1507 calculates a display area for the two-dimensional program table on the basis of the signal representing a channel input from the channel converting part 1506.
The program guide forming part 1508 receives a calculation result from the display area calculating part 1507 and necessary information from the program information management part 1504 to form a two-dimensional program table. The display part 1509 displays a video image by the decoded video information and the decoded audio information input from the decode part 1503 or displays the two-dimensional program table input from the program guide forming part 1508.
Next, a detailed description will be given of operations of the components of the electronic program guide display device 1500 performed until switching display of the two-dimensional program table is performed on the display part 1509 after key inputting is performed by a key operation of the remote controller 2200.
When a specific key is depressed (key-input) by the key operation of the remote controller 2200, the remote control input analyzing part 1505 analyzes a type of the key-input. More specifically, the remote control input analyzing part 1505 analyzes whether any one of the direction designation key which moves a cursor position on the two-dimensional program table up, down, left, or right by the hour or in units of channels one by one, the blue key or the red key which changes dates on the two-dimensional program table, the numeric key which jumps a channel or a date on the two-dimensional program table, and other keys is operated.
The remote control input analyzing part 1505 outputs a signal representing a designated direction to the display area calculating part 1507 when the analysis result of the key-input from the remote controller 2200 is the direction designation key representing any direction of the upward, downward, leftward, and rightward directions. When the analysis result of the key-input from the remote controller 2200 is the blue key or the red key, the remote control input analyzing part 1505 outputs a signal representing a date previous to the current date to the display area calculating part 1507 when the analysis result is the blue key, and the remote control input analyzing part 1505 outputs a signal representing a date next to the current date to the display area calculating part 1507 when the analysis result is the red key.
The channel converting part 1506 converts a number of a numeric key input from the remote control input analyzing part 1505 into a corresponding channel and outputs the channel to the display area calculating part 1507 such that the channel is located at a reference position for a display of the two-dimensional program table. For example, when “2” is input by the numeric key, the channel converting part 1506 sets “channel 2” as a channel for the reference position on the two-dimensional program table.
When the signal of the direction designation key is input from the remote control input analyzing part 1505, the display area calculating part 1507 calculates a display area such that a cursor position of a program list displayed by the current two-dimensional program table is moved in the designated direction of the upward, downward, leftward, and rightward directions. When the signal of the blue key or the red key is input from the remote control input analyzing part 1505, the display area calculating part 1507 calculates a display style such that a date of the program field displayed by the current two-dimensional program table is changed into a date previous to the current date when the blue key is input and the date of the program field is changed into a date next to the current date when the red key is input. When a signal which designates a channel serving as a reference position for the display of the two-dimensional program table is input from the channel converting part 1506, for example, a display area for the two-dimensional program table is calculated such that the designated channel is arranged at a center position of a channel axis of the display for the two-dimensional program table. The display area calculating part 1507 outputs the calculated display area for the two-dimensional program table to the program guide forming part 1508.
The program guide forming part 1508 receives the program information accumulated and managed by the program information management part 1504 to form the two-dimensional program table adjusted to the display area calculated by the display area calculating part 1507. The program guide forming part 1508 outputs a command signal to the display part 1509 such that the two-dimensional program table displayed at the present is switched to a newly formed two-dimensional program table and the switched two-dimensional program table is displayed.
The display part 1509 which receives a command signal of switching display from the program guide forming part 1508 switches the new two-dimensional program table input from the program guide forming part 1508 to the two-dimensional program table displayed at the present and displays the two-dimensional program table.
A concrete display screen of the two-dimensional program table which is formed and displayed by the conventional electronic program guide display device 1500 will be described below with reference to FIG. 16.
FIG. 16 is a diagram concretely showing a display screen of the two-dimensional program table displayed on the display part 1509. In the display screen of the two-dimensional program table shown in FIG. 16, channels are arranged in the horizontal direction, and times are arranged in the vertical direction. The date tab representing a date is arranged in an upper portion of a channel display field. In general, information of an electronic program guide includes information for 8 days including the current date and does not have information subsequent to the 8 days. Therefore, in the conventional electronic program guide display device 1500, the information for the 8 days including the current date is displayed. The date tab which is especially enlarged and displayed indicates program data displayed at the present.
When a user desires to browse program data at a desired time, a time axis is scrolled by the direction designation key representing the upward and downward directions, the time is jumped to a time of the date previous to the current date by the blue key, or the time is jumped to a time of the date next to the current date by the red key.
As another approach performed when the user desires to browse electronic program data at a desired time, in a method disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2002-44554, analog time display is performed to make it possible to move a display area to a target time by only the key representing the leftward and rightward directions, and when the key representing the leftward and rightward directions is continuously depressed, only an analog clock is updated without displaying the program information to shorten a period of moving time.
In the method disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2005-12412, a key representing a destination on the next day, a day after a week or the like is displayed on the screen to make it possible to jump the date.
In the method disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. H10-276378, a scroll bar is displayed on the screen of the electronic program guide, and a channel, a date, or a time is jumped such that a cursor is pointed to the scroll bar.
Patent Document 1: Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2002-44554
Patent Document 2: Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2005-12412
Patent Document 3: Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. H10-276378